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Category: Inspiration

What if extraterrestrial life is trying to contact us through laser beams?

In his later work, the great science fiction novelist Philip K. Dick speculated that an alien intelligence had transmitted information to Earth via laser beams or other forms of light.

The $100 million Breakthrough Listen project aims to search one million stars for signals, from “the center of our galaxy and the entire galactic plane.” It will broaden our search to include laser transmissions, testing Dick’s theory. Continue reading →

Over at the Literai, a community of writers and programmers build neural nets to write “artificial fiction.” Check it out:

“Artificial fiction is now possible, mostly through the use of modern neural networks that can learn how to write in English (or any other language for that matter). Generally the writing from these neural networks isn’t very good, but it can be remarkably insightful into the patterns and styles of the genre it is taught to imitate. It is possible for anyone with a laptop to easily train neural networks and create their own artificial fiction.”

What kind of new narratives will 21st Century storytellers create for our changing world?

Over at deviantART, you can explore a curated gallery of art dedicated to the future of storytelling–some end of the month inspiration.

Brain Games host Jason Silva tackled that question in a two-minute video called “Lucid Dreaming,” outlining the tremendous opportunities (and challenges) facing 21st Century storytellers. As our relationship to technology evolves, the stories we tell each other will change as well.